Syrian opposition groups on Wednesday issued a declaration during a conference in Istanbul to form a government in exile.
The government will be established to rule the areas of Syria under its control and to win support from the international community.
More than 200 members has participated the three-day conference.
The conference focuses on transitional...

Analysts believe that the Obama administration is “laying the groundwork for international recognition of an opposition government,” The Washington Post reports.

But a senior U.S. official said that “we’re still quite a ways from that.” Instead, the official said, the new group will have a “political outreach function,” to build “basic credibility” among Syrian fence-sitters and regime supporters, and an “administrative function,” including the provision of services such as electricity, organized with U.S. and other outside help.

Two years on, the demise of Mideast dictators and rise of “democracy” have produced a handful of elected Islamic governments with harder-line militants pressing from the right. Meanwhile, the Syrian uprising has deteriorated into an ugly sectarian war that is spreading across the region, drawing in Sunni jihadis along with Iranian weapons and fighters.